It is well known that flies and ticks are attracted to horses and other animals, and are also a nuisance to humans when humans are working on or are around the animals.
Thus, it would be highly beneficial if one were able to keep these insects away from animals, and particularly for only a short period of time, e.g., an hour or two, so that the animals could be properly worked on.
The present invention solves this problem by providing a method for cleansing or shampooing the animal's hide/skin/fur, as well as imparting insect repellency to insects such as flies and ticks.
The inventive method employs a gelled surfactant-containing composition that was previously used for emulsifying oil, particularly oil resulting from a spill. This composition is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,753,127 and 6,660,698 to Riley, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However, there was never any recognition of the ability of this composition to be effective in reducing the attraction of flies and ticks to animals, and particularly horses.